HIGHLIGHTS OF DEVELOPMENTS IN WASHINGTON IMPACTING THE PHYSICS
COMMUNITY FROM FYI, THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS BULLETIN OF
SCIENCE POLICY NEWS

Richard M. Jones, Audrey T. Leathfyithismonth@aip.org

DOE LAB MANAGEMENT: As the Energy Department prepares to
compete management contracts for several of its weapons labs, Sen.
Pete Domenici (R-NM) plans a series of hearings this
summer to explore the management of DOE's national laboratories.

NANOTECH BILLS: Full Senate approval is likely for a bill to
authorize an expanded federal role in nanotechnology R&D. The House
overwhelmingly passed similar legislation in May, but there are
differences in the two bills that will need to be worked out in
conference.

FY04 APPROPRIATIONS BILLS: House and Senate appropriators
have been busy trying to complete as many FY 2004 spending bills as
possible before the August recess. Although House-Senate
conferences have not yet been held to agree upon final funding
levels, appropriators in either the House or the Senate - or both -
have made progress on funding bills for the following departments
and agencies: DOE (FYIs #87, 95, 96), DOD (FYI
#89),
Homeland Security (FYI #90), USGS
(FYIs #91,
94), NSF
(FYIs #93,
103), NIST
(FYI #98),
and NASA (FYI #104).

NASA HEARINGS: Recent hearings
explored the implications of the shuttle Columbia accident on NASA's
space transportation plans, the space agency's cooperation with its
Russian counterpart, and its ability to hire and retain high-tech
workers.

VISA RESTRICTIONS: An issue that continues to receive
attention from the science community is visa
restrictions for foreign students and scientists. A July
hearing by the House Government Reform Committee explored this
topic, and a survey of the impact of visa restrictions on U.S.
graduate physics departments was conducted by AIP's Statistical
Research Center.

NUCLEAR POWER: Several hearings over the summer showed
renewed congressional interest in nuclear power,
and concern over the number of American students entering the
nuclear science and engineering field.

NUCLEAR WEAPONS, TESTING: In its DOE funding
bill, the House did not provide the Administration's full
funding requests for exploring advanced nuclear weapons concepts or
reducing the time it would take to be ready for nuclear testing.
The House bill conflicts
with the Senate bill on these topics.

CLIMATE CHANGE PLAN: A new Administration document on climate change
was released on July 24 by a panel that included several Cabinet
secretaries and the president's science advisor. The document is
intended to provide a strategic plan for climate change research,
but not provide policy recommendations.

HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS ADVISORY PANEL: At an advisory
committee meeting on
federal high energy physics research, federal officials focused on
the many large-scale facilities that have been proposed in the
physical sciences, the need for interagency cooperation and
performance measures, and the trend toward increasing
internationalization of large research facilities.